Crumb-y School Food


I really enjoyed school when I was growing up, except for math and some parts of gym. One of my favorite classes was eighth grade home ec. My teacher was young and pretty and shared her mom’s recipes with a class of mostly clueless girls. I am ashamed to say that one of the reasons I liked the class was just because most of the other girls were clueless. I, who knew one end of a paring knife from another and was an expert dishwasher, shined brighter for their dimness, which helped make up for the fact that I was never able to successfully climb the big rope in the gym.

Misplaced snobbery aside, that year in the cunningly-arranged home ec kitchen gave me at least three of my favorite recipes. Two are cookies I make almost every year at Christmas, and one was for many years my usual baked macaroni and cheese. For the past decade or so I have used an adaptation that combines cheddar and cream cheese — I like it better, but back then I was all over Mrs. Moore’s mac and cheese, boosted to cheesy glory with a generous measure of Velveeta cubes. Ah, Velveeta. I disdain it now, and yet — there is something about it, isn’t there? It carries me back to Mrs. Moore’s mac and cheese and my mother’s unbaked version stirred up in one pot, and maybe that is my current version of misplaced snobbery.

Macaroni and cheese is nothing but old-fashioned, as it should be. I serve mine with a wing-it version of another childhood culinary discovery, one found in one of my 4H cooking project books. It was called Bubbly Baked Tomatoes. The original recipe is lost in the mists of time, but it is simply well-drained Italian-style stewed tomatoes baked with a buttered crumb/Parmesan topping. It is old-fashioned, too, which makes it the perfect partner to slide into the oven beside the mac and cheese on nights when you want to eat something honest and uncomplicated. Here are two versions of everybody’s favorite comfort food; I leave you to decide which speaks most authentically to your sense of old-fashioned.

Now get up and go cook something good.

Old School w/ Velveeta Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Serves 6

8 oz. macaroni, cooked according to pkg. directions
4 T. butter or margarine
3 T. flour
2 c. milk
2 c. Velveeta, cubed — set aside three cubes for garnish
2 t. prepared mustard
½ t. salt
grinds of pepper to taste

2 T. butter or margarine, melted
¾ c. dry bread crumbs or 3 slices bread, torn into pieces for coarse crumbs

Melt 4 T. butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, continuing to stir to prevent lumps. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes after it starts to bubble, without letting it brown. Gradually stir in milk; cook and stir until bubbly and thickened. Stir in the mustard, cheese, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese melts.

Place the drained, cooked macaroni in a greased 2 qt. casserole. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni.

Mix the bread crumbs and 2 T. melted butter together. Sprinkle over the top of the mac and cheese. Decorate the top of the casserole with the three reserved cubes of cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

Deluxe Baked Macaroni and Cheese
Adapted very lightly from a Taste of Home contest runner-up submission
Serves 6

8 oz. macaroni, cooked according to pkg. directions
4 T. butter or margarine
3 T. flour
2 c. milk
2 c. (8 oz.) shredded Cheddar cheese, sharp or mild according to your preference
8 oz. cream cheese, cubed
2 t. Dijon or prepared mustard
½ t. salt
grinds of pepper to taste

1 T. butter or margarine, melted
3 slices bread, torn into pieces for coarse crumbs

Melt 4 T. butter in medium saucepan over medium heat. Stir in flour, continuing to stir to prevent lumps. Cook and stir for 1-2 minutes after it starts to bubble, without letting it brown. Gradually stir in milk; cook and stir until bubbly and thickened. Stir in the mustard, cheeses, salt, and pepper. Stir until cheese melts.

Place the drained, cooked macaroni in a greased 2 qt. casserole. Pour the cheese sauce over the macaroni.

Mix the bread crumbs and 1 T. melted butter together. Sprinkle over the top of the mac and cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes or until bubbly and golden brown. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.

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